Royal Gamble
Shuffled Hands Watching as the waves crash against the hull of the ship as she casually leaned over the railing gazing out towards the vast and endless Sea that lates stretched out before her. Turning away from from the sea Emelisse focuses her attention to the sky as her mind began to wonder with everything that happened recently she nearly forgot about the anniversary of her "Fathers" death and the official start of her conquest. Clearing the thoughts that began to consume her mood, Emelisse ever so slowly began to straighten her posture while allowing her eyes to sweep across the deck of the ship glancing at all the unimportant faces spewed about. Seeing nothing that she considered noteworthy she made her way towards her personal cabin where she could begin to plot her next course of actions. Upon entering her cabin she quickly seated herself behind the large desk that occupied the center of the room, running her hand along the bridge of her nose in slight annoyance as she glances towards a large stack of papers she completely forgot was the main reason for her escape towards the main deck. "Goddamnit, I forgot about these papers". She groaned as she was alone which allowed her to drop her calm and sophisticated facade and just be herself. "Why do I even need to do paperwork isn’t this something that Pirates avoid ya’know being free and everything." She continued to complain allowing her natural accent to slip out something which she usually tried to avoid. Groaning once again she allowed her head to hit the desk completely annoyed about her current situation. Raising her head at the sound of the door opening and knowing well enough that only two people would dare brazenly enter without knocking Emelisse casually watched as her First Mate made his first debut of the day. "No one is ever free, M'lady." One of the two said, voice tracked to a dark blond man, hair slicked back, whose clothes were a baggy outfit with a cloak over it. Over his face, the man had an eyepatch, on his right eye. "After all even buildings, things that are inanimate and built with sooo much love, have no place to go!" He sung, eye squinting while putting a hand over his chest. This man was Evory Henry, her aforementioned first mate, and a pirate worth more than 180,000,000 by his own lonesome. "Even those got to deal with papers, desususususu." Henry chuckled, tall form almost reaching the ceiling. "I certainly hope you didn’t come here to patronize me Henry because I had enough of that from Rosa." Emelisse stated as she completely ignores the mountain of paperwork and glancing at her First mate in boredom before glancing at the map that was hung upon the wall to the left of Henry. "Remind me again Henry why are we heading towards Ferham as I recall our original destination was Worluk one of the known locations controlled by a Revolutionary Faction." She questioned as her eyes left the map of targeted area’s and returned to Henry. However before she allowed him to answer she allowed her mind to drift a bit recalling the fact that Ferham was one of the Island currently bidding itself to become a protected territory of the Monk Pirates something she found rather pointless as the island itself held little resource worth protecting nor were their people in possession of any kind of strength that could of been used to booster the ranks of the Monks. Snorting at the stupidity of the islanders she allowed her mind to once again return focus to Henry. "M'lady, as the days go on, you look more and more like a building!" Henry clapped his hands together, smile over his face. "But, I'm to enlighten you," Walking around the room, he rubbed his hands and smiled even more. All of a sudden, Henry's arm stretched, and his hand slammed over a map on the wall of the room. "Ferham is not just any Territory. It possesses an intricate structure," Then, he had cupped the air before him, "Even though it doesn't have much of special." A cough escaped his mouth, which stood surrounded by his high collar. Henry continued, "HOWEVER, the very special thing about it is that we sighted an elite of the Monks hovering around!" Henry hunched backwards, cupping his chest yet again. "Judging by our observation, the man Spriggan Dante was the one sighted! He is a fighter known as Body of Swords, worth more than 240,000,000, I heard!" Raising an eyebrow at the news her mind began to work overtime digging for what information she knew of Dante and with each remembrance a wild and savage smile began to spread out upon her lips. "Spriggan Dante, the King of Spades of the Monk Pirates". She uttered out loud as she begin as her mind come to a very interesting conclusion regarding the situation. Turning back towards Henry she gives him a somewhat deranged smile and slowly get up and makes her way over towards him. "My dear Henry would you kindly relay our current mission to the rest of the Nobilities." She stated in more of a demanding tone rather than a question before she turned back to her desk with her mind running a mile a minute completely ignoring everything else and disregarding Henry’s abrupt departure. "The Monk Pirates Huh." She mumbled aloud before digging in the left top draw of her desk and pulling out four slightly worn bounties and smiling crazily down towards the lay of the four. "Who would think i’d Make my first strike in the world against the Mad Monk." She laughed paying little heed as a tall and heavily armored figure emerged from her very shadow and reached out to crush the bounties of the Yonko. ---- The Monk Pirates were seen on the inconspicuous island of Ferham, where civilization was very bleak and all that could be seen as the eyes stretched were mountainous areas with small villages that separated every thirty or so kilometers. There was very little of value to the surface of Ferham, and yet, the Monk Pirates had kept it as one of their regularly monitored territories, and were amicable with the citizenry...but why? In truth, Ferham was one of the few islands in the New World which was partially submerged by the sea, and its most prized resource was found beneath the turbulent seas: a storage of exceedingly high-quality mineral ore. The Monk Pirates were no fools, and they kept this particular fact hidden to the world, so-as-to avoid drawing attention to their endeavors with the ore this territory provided. On this territory, two very high-ranking members of the Monk Pirates were present. One of those figures was Spriggan Dante, an orange-haired youth of noticeably short stature and lean build, along with virtually no combat presence. Yet, beneath his happy-go-lucky attitude, was the man who held the "King of Spades" position, and was established as one of the strongest swordsmen within the New World. "Oi oi, Shisho-ken! Where are the sword mines?! You said there'd be swords here!!" Dante was visibly making a tantrum, as he walked across the island at a decently brisk pace, only constrained by his much taller, and intimidating subordinate Shisho, otherwise recognized by the title, "10 of Spades", and the strongest subordinate under the top four officers of the Spade division. "Fukukukuku." The subordinate laughed, with a pitch much higher than what his serious attire and stature would possess. He was a man who bore the visage of a Samurai, but was distinguished by those from Wano Country with his shoulder pauldrons, that were embedded with a golden owl. "Do not worry, Dante-dono. We will reach there soon!" His almost girlish voice exclaimed, causing Dante to be reassured once again and move forward without complaints. "Okay, if you say so Shisho-ken!" Despite Dante's position, he wasn't a man that favored his brains. His entire life has gone into pursuing the greatest of blades, and so long as others persuade him with that very thing, he will not question further. ---- Ferham was neither a majestic or overly appealing place if anything the small island was one of the more plain looking locations that one would find in the New World something Emelisse has a bit of a hard time wrapping her mind around, Perhaps that was the appeal of the location with all the crazy and bizarre islands scattered a normal and plain one became an exotic destination or was there something bigger hidden behind a curtain of normalcy or perhaps she’s just overthinking due to her boredom of having to actually look for someone. Glancing around at the islanders as she and her crew make their way throughout the island she noted that they showed very little fear to their presence only mild curiosity which is possibly due to never encountering them beforehand or perhaps it’s because they have seen the more infamous and dangerous of Pirates which again isn’t surprising if the rumors of the Monk Pirates hold on this island is true. Offhandedly she wondered what her next approach should be as she held two options one being to be civilized and political while attempting to manipulate the conversation to uncover if a member of the Monk Pirates were currently affiliated with this island or she could try the typical tyrant way and start causing damage to instill fear. Looking towards Henry in an attempt to question him on their current situation without actually opening her mouth to give anything away, something she knew he could understand as he was possibly one of the closer people within her current life and one of two people currently alive that knew of her past. Oddly enough as it sounds she began to wonder if she should pawn him off as the Captain during boring alliance talks before discarding the idea as only cowards and fools hide behind another and allow them to take credit for one’s feats. "We are very much diplomatic!" Henry said all of a sudden, single eye closed, and finger up. A smile graced by his lips, "Therefore, it is of our convenience if we manage to talk it out of these people!" The hand that had the finger up rose further and wrapped around Henry's chin, his boots squished against the soil before them. "Actually, what if we take a third option?" He pointed the same finger at her, smiling, boots then taking him towards one of the nearby vendors, a fruit stand. That time, Henry rose his other hand and pointed it at the vendor in question, "Greetings my friend, my name is Henry!" He chirpped, bowing at the old woman, "Would you kindly have any... beautiful Mandarine with you? If yes, how much?" The woman bowed back, blinking several times before doing so however. "Mine is Lashy," With her right hand, she gestured for an orange row of fruits, "Yes, one is about 80!" At the sight of Henry tossing a small bill, Lashy picked the fruit and tossed it, catching the coin swiftly after. Henry smirked even before he grabbed the mandarine, "Thanks-" He said as soon as it fell onto his left hand, though, "GAH!!" It seemed he gripped it too tightly, an orange spit surged through the air and landed directly into his sole eye. Wrinkles showed upon Henry's face and his eye shut tightly, "AAAAAAAH!" The mandarine dropped from his hand, since both his hands went on to hold his head. Still wailing, Henry stumbled backwards, crashing into some humble shops, people yelled out of the way while things flew everywhere. "MY EYE, MY EYE!" Henry crashed into a large building's base, though, instead of the normal crashes, that time, a very brief light shone through the building's structure. In a moment, the whole thing fell apart in blocks, bricks, and other akin to them. Non verbally ordering some grunts to check upon Henry Emeliess returned her sight back upon the group of islanders who were currently gathered around her crew blatantly watching the interaction with interest. Clearing her throat to get their attention she narrowed her eyes at their unbothered look which was a bit unusual for the current setup as usually people would be terrified at the prospect of a large group of pirates intruding upon their island, this was something she didn't like whether it was purposely or unintentionally the islanders were ignoring her and that was something she disliked more than anything. Due to her annoyance at their lack of attention, she completely missed a few members of the group stealthy separate from the rest and rush off. Forgoing her usual mask she grits her teeth as her shadow began to bubble and convulse before shooting forward before enlarging into a large armored figure that quickly swept towards the group before splitting into three slightly smaller versions and circling the group trapping them from attempting to escape. "Let me make one thing abundantly clear" Emelisse started with a glare that made a few with the group huddle together. "I care very little for this island or its inhabitants however it seems that the Monk Pirates just happen to hold this little piece of land in some regards and considering the Monks are standing in the way of my ambition I guess I'll just have to carve my way through". She pauses to look around smiling and snapping her finger causing one of the armored figured to reach out and grab the skull of a young teen before emotionlessly crushing it killing the poor teen in an instant and causing a widespread of panic and despair to ring out from the group who all attempted to try and flee but were forced to remain in the circle as the armored figures began cutting down those who got close to an opening gap. "Now that I really have your attention" Emelisse started again as she watched in pure glee as fear filled islanders eyes as they gaze upon her. "I don't care about the reason the Monks want your island but considering I heard a rumor of one of there top combatants being stationed here I figured what your guarding must be valuable so I decided to kill two birds with a single stone by destroying whoever the Monks have stationed here and claimed this island as my own." pausing to look over the group she gave them a mocking smile. "it's just to bad you won't be around to see it happen" she finished as she signaled her crew and Knights to began pillaging the village. Within a matter of moments, the crew and knights were scattered about, as blood spattered everywhere and they dropped dead to the ground like flies. All that remained standing was a single man, adorned in the garb of a Samurai, facing straight towards the Imperial Pirate that stood before him. "Dante-dono! These unusual raiders are also after your sword poneglyph! You must stop them at any cost!" "Oi oi Shisho-ken!" A male voice yelled behind the armored Samurai, as an orange-haired man stood on top of his shoulders, perfectly balanced without any effort. "...Eh? Whaddya say? They're after my sword poneglyph?" A serious visage flashed across Dante's face for a moment, as his eyes locked on to Emelisse. Suddenly, he snapped out of his concentrated state. "Shisho-ken! You can't just assume that about people! So let's ask!" Dante leaped off his subordinate's shoulders, creating a shockwave on the ground, without injuring Shisho in the slightest, and leaped such an incredible distance that he landed right in front of Emelisse. He noticed the corpse that was near her body, but didn't pay much mind to it. "Hey there Witch-ken! Are you after my Sword Poneglyph?!" Blinking slightly at the disposal of the grunts that made up the lower tier of her crew, Emelisse turned her eyes upon the figure that just appeared in front of her with surprise clearly shown in her eyes had not expected their retaliation so fast. "Your Poneglyph?" She asked before laughing aloud to quickly masking her surprise at the knowledge of a Poneglyph being on the island, while her summoned knight stood behind her protectively. "Do you not mean Your Captain's Poneglyph" she continued before turning towards Henry's location as if to ask exactly whom she was conversing with as well as to confirm if they did, in fact, posses a Poneglyph. "It matters not In the end". she stated as she turned back towards Dante while giving him a dismissive look before glancing towards Shisho with a look of interest. "What does matter is the confirmation of the Poneglyph being situated on this island". Without looking at her summoned minion or even acknowledging its presence, The Knight swiftly split into two pieces and duplicating itself before of the newly formed duo dashed towards Shisho. "Now nameless-kun: she began as a sword materialized into her hand. "Why don't you just avoid all the hassle and eventual bloodshed and hand over the Poneglyph peacefully". Craft "It matters not?" It was Henry who repeated, his face and expression a mix of alert and sweat upon the presence of those two Monk Pirates. Their bounties both exceeded the 240,000,000 mark, way grander than his own, than the Captain's even. They hadn't been together for long, but, maybe this was a chance to prove the captain's worth. "I do know of the Poneglyph here, Monk Pirates!" Henry chirped, though, he took steps back, seeing how his captain was ready to engage into combat. "Don't worry, it and all of the island shall be the Captain's!" "Eh?" Dante looked at the woman, puzzled at what she dared to say to him. "The Captain's? Oh, oh you dunno yet! Right, right. See, Daikaku-tsurugi told me, that any sword poneglyph belonged to me! Ya know why? Cause I'm the "Body of Swords" Spriggan Dante, King of Spades, and the man who will become the first sword human!" Dante pointed his thumb towards himself, smiling in bliss while completely ignoring the threat that Emelisse supposedly posed. Suddenly, it clicked. This woman wanted his sword poneglyph? "Nope." Dante said, with a much more grim tone of voice, as his eyes opened completely, and stared directly towards his enemy. "The sword poneglyph is mine. And nobody else will have it." From his wrist, the edge of a blade slid out through an opening in his skin. There was no pain in his expression, nor any sign of discomfort or oddity. This procedure was a normal occurrence for Spriggan Dante. Surprisingly, he did not make the first move. He waited, coldly, almost like a blade awaiting orders, or awaiting bloodlust. Narrowing her eyes as the feeling of pure unrelenting bloodlust washed over her, Emelisse silently recalled her two remaining guardians before casting a side glance towards her "Sister" who’s arrival she was secretly glad for as despite her boasting and confidence she knew that in her current state she would be unable to fight both combatants simultaneously. As she felt her two remaining guardians disappear, she clenched her right fist tightly before unfolding it when a double-bladed sword began manifesting out of seemingly nowhere. "The sword poneglyph is yours?" She repeated with clear amusement laced in her voice as her weapon of choice finished manifesting, causing her gracefully twirl said weapon about casually. "I’m afraid your mistaken Darling, as the poneglyph is MINE!!!" She yelled the ending before casually tossing her swords towards him causing it to spin in a motion similar to a buzzsaw officially making the first move of the battle. ---- On the other hand was the Samurai, who Emelisse had directed two soldiers to fight. To him, fighting inanimate objects did not bother him. Ultimately, the actions of puppets like these were guided by human hands. Their movements were limited to the human condition, and he had endeavored to study every avenue of Martial Arts in the world possible. To Shisho, this was no better than fighting two Martial Artists whose attention spans were split in half. They had both come with the intention of lopping his arms off, but Shisho would not let that happen. From a distance, using his free left hand, he grasped the hilt of his shorter sword. With a strong reverse grip, he stepped forward with his right leg, anchored it before him, and twisted his entire body rightwards as he drew the sword, releasing it from his sheath with such pressure that both golems would be forced to defend themselves from the slash that sought to cut through the air itself. "You are facing the General of the Fukuro Toshokan and the Monk Pirates' 10 of Spades, Shisho! The technique you just faced was the Fukuro Haken-ryu: Uraga! Do not face me without adequate preparation, or you shall meet your death!" For all of Shinsho’s boasting, his slash never hit the intended target. A shadow flashed between the attack and golems, blocking the attack right before the imminent collision. The air pressure thudded meeting a hard object, rippling and waiving against the obstacle; but it was all for naught, and the force seemingly dissipated without drawing any blood. The culprit revealed herself after the timely intervention. A young-looking woman, roughly the same age as Emmelisse, wielding a one-handed sword and a shield. Her attire, somewhat scant, was all littered with floral motifs: her short skirt, strapless shirt, and dark gloves either ended in or seemed to be made of deep green petals. Moreover, she was sporting what looked like a red blooming rose as an eyepatch, hold together by vines wrapped on her forearms and tights. Even her two weapons bore a great semblance to flowers, her shield being shaped like a flora corolla while her sword sported a spiked handguard. Rosamund stared back at the samurai with absurd stoicism. Her face looked like petrified, almost, yet her mind a maelstrom of questions and feelings raged on: sorrow, for her beloved onee-sama had decided to go on a battle without asking for her help. Regret, for if she had been a more loyal subordinate, Emmelisse would have brought her together. Rage, for the Monks shown so much dishonor in facing her beloved, attacking both at once. And shame, for she had still failed to convince onee-sama to eat the recommended ratio of vegetables during lunch. Rosamund rose her shield, still looking sturdy if dented by the air slash, and put forth the tip of her gladius as to throw the proverbial gauntlet. Without uttering a word, she charged the muscles of her calves and broke in a straight lunge. Aiming at Shinso’s heart, she delivered a powerful, straight trust with such force it cleft the surrounding air, extending its skewering potency; her other hand, meanwhile, gripped onto her shield, ready to parry any blow pointed at her upper vital spots. Shisho was surprised, to say the very least, regarding the sudden appearance of his new enemy. However, what surprised him more was the lack of dignity she held! What manner of opponent comes unannounced and goes straight for the attack! It was dishonorable, and it angered Shisho greatly. Before he could clear his grievances, however, Shisho had to evade the current attack. "Fukuro Haken-ryu: Surizashi!" Shisho quickly adopted a stance that would be considered strange in the situation he found himself in. It was a neutral stance, with his blade facing forward and completely vertical, almost as if he were ready to perform a stroke to counter Rosamund's own. However, the Monk Pirate was not a fool. Any woman who seemingly boasted the physical strength to challenge a man of his caliber with a forward thrust was confident in their physical strength, and Shisho did not take unnecessary risks during battle. Instead, at the moment prior to complete contact with the air pressure and his sword, Shisho reacted with a subtle evasive maneuver. Shisho understood the nature of the attack and flipped his sword vertically while shifting his own body to the right, and his sword to his left, its hilt parallel to Shisho's ear. This maneuver enabled him to avoid the brunt of the force, while allowing him to anticipate what was coming next. As opposed to wait for his opponent, Shisho pushed forward even while in this position. By sliding to the evermost right of the attack's radius, Shisho narrowly avoided any form of damage while moving towards his own optimal attack range. At the point where their blades were about to collide, Shisho's blade slid through the thrust as opposed to clash against it, leading both combatants seemingly on their merry way. Although this couldn't be further from the truth. At the exact moment Shisho's blade came into contact with Rosamund's gladius, he instead took a step with his outward right leg, and moved it to his left diagonally, towards Rosamund's position, and leaped forward, while bringing his sword down from his ear and performing a slash towards the back of Rosamund's right shoulder, which she wielded her sword with. Shisho's hopes with this maneuver was to eliminate the use of Rosamund's sword arm, forcing the Imperial Pirate to submit in a single, effortless maneuver, before Shisho proceeded to lecture her regarding her dishonorable maneuver. Having her right eye gouged out and replaced with a rose-shaped eyepatch forced Rosamund to be extremely sensitive about any opponent coming close to her blind spot; so, it took very little to realize Shisho had just circumvented her powerful thrust by a split second and was trying to attack from behind. What speed, proficiency, and footwork! Rosamund was thankful for having used her Kenbunshoku because his movement had left an afterimage which would have surely baited in the wrong direction if she were slightly less attentive. Those were skills to praised, for sure. But they also belonged to a dishonorable scum who dared to hurt her onee-sama by ganging up with his superior, and now was striking in a place she couldn’t naturally see over it. Such awful conduct was worthy of brutal punishment, of a quick and swift and merciless DEAAATHHHH! She ruminated, all whilst maintaining her unflappable expression and responding to Shiso’s move. Rosamund’s feet dug themselves a bit on the ground- literally, for her Devil Fruit had transformed them in thorny vines. The transformation soon extended toward her lower body, instantly turning legs and hips in a single, bushy mass. Strong, yet still far more flexible than human flexes. Rosamund took advantage of this flexibility to perform a normally impossible 180° degrees rotation whilst still remaining steadily pivoted. With such move, Rosamund could face her opponent once more, face to face, and her sword coming from her free arm. She whipped back her shield with full force against shisho’s blade, slamming right on its grove. A din thundered as metal faced against metal, releasing enough force to catapult both combatants at a respectable distance. However, Rosamund was anchored to the ground, whilst Shiso’s balance was probably left precarious for fast slash. The woman smiled: even the most skilled dancers would be left discombobulated by sudden imbalances. Profiting of this moment of reprise, Rosa switched her legs back to their human form and took a leap forward against the samurai, all before both feet could touch the ground. Realizing the difference in terms of speed between the two, she realized she could not wait to reach Shiso before attacking and launched an air slash with a swing of her sword while keeping her guard one as much as her offensive move allowed for it. However, she turned her arms and forearms since shoulders into plants, which added to their maneuverability by removing the limitations of human joints. A combination of force and flexibility resulted in an attack resembling a vertical lawnmower, delivered with a circular shape, leaving a remarkable wound as it bit the ground. Shisho was surprised at the nature of his opponent's Devil Fruit, and had taken off from the ground due to the extremity of their clash. It was a difficult thing to bounce back from, but Shisho wasn't one to make a crisis out of this situation. Instead of trying to gain footing on the ground again, Shisho instead put himself into a fetal position while still in the air, rolling like a ball to increase his speed and maintain a distance from the planted woman. He could feel the changes in the air as another slash attempted to devour him. But by this point, Shisho was prepared for any method of attack. His momentum had been at its peak, and so, with the control he had left over his body, he pointed his blade outwards, causing it to spin along with his body at such incredible speeds that the Monk Pirate managed to cut through Rosamund's slash while it attempted to strike him, narrowly avoiding any major wounds through the difference in speed between both combatants. With the small opening he possessed, Shisho managed to land on the ground once more, and stand upright. He was surprised at the nature of the opponent before him, and winced slightly. He didn't want to utilize his strongest techniques immediately, but if he was unable to maintain an advantage, it may be impossible to continue without relying on them. ...More Coming Soon Category:Role-Plays Category:Ninshū Category:Ash9876 Category:DamonDraco Category:Tabor gorilla